Marine Corps sends tanks, weapons to Eastern Europe

Marines with a new Bulgaria-based unit designed to deter Russian aggression will soon be equipped with some serious firepower that arrived in Europe this weekend.

The Marine Corps shipped four Abrams main battle tanks, three howitzer artillery cannons and six light armored reconnaissance vehicles to the Combined Arms Company on Sunday, said Capt. Richard Ulsh, a spokesman for Marine Corps Forces Europe.

The vehicles and weapons were first transported to Bremerhaven, Germany, from North Carolina. The heavy equipment was then loaded onto trains and sent about 1,100 miles to the Novo Selo Training Area in Bulgaria, where about 160 Marines are deployed on six-month rotations.

The new rotation, which was announced in June as part of the European Reassurance Initiative, is the first of three Marine rotations that will move through Bulgaria. The initiative is meant to soothe NATO allies concerned with Russian military aggression following the forceful 2014 annexation of Crimea.